


The Truth

by Crazy_luna



Series: Owari Magica [24]
Category: Owari Magica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:53:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_luna/pseuds/Crazy_luna
Summary: Salem has a talk with Vanessa and Mariana about something they haven't been told yet.
Series: Owari Magica [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815574





	The Truth

**Author's Note:**

> cockabeetle words 358 = 325 points  
> IllegalSympathy words 466 = 430 points

The weather was cold but it was perplexingly sunny. Wind came off of the ocean that nipped at people  
skin. The tide was in making it a little hard to get to the magi sanctuary.  
Salem sighed she had sent out a text to Vanessa and Ana to come talk to her at the sanctuary. She was  
mulling through her thoughts working on the right words to tell them. Walking into the storage room  
she pulled out the kettle and mugs to make tea or coffee. She set them up on the counter of the 'store'.  
She had also brought some pastries from a local place. Her want was for this to go well but knew it  
might not. She got some water from the bathroom and filled the kettle. "Its okay Salem you can do this.  
What ever happens keep the blame from V."  
Mariana always got hit by the post-holiday blues until her birthday rolled around and she could pull  
herself out of that funk. It was even worse, this year, since the divorce was hanging over her and Papá's  
heads.  
The text from Salem is a welcome distraction, and she is more than happy to meet for a talk.  
Mariana was incredibly curious about what Salem wanted to talk about, they hadn't gotten to talk much.  
"Hello? Where did you want me to uh... be?"  
Vanessa was pleasantly surprised by Salems text, mid-way through homework and headed straight for  
the Sanctuary. As soon as she had arrived she noticed the place almost empty save for Ana and Salem,  
flashing a smile and wave at the two women Vanessa settled herself down. "What's up? Planning a  
surprise party for Von"? she asked.  
Salem smiled at the pair. "Hey guys. Come sit. Would you like some tea or coffee?" She started by  
making herself a cup of tea. "I need to talk to you guys about something important." She explained  
trying to keep the nerves down.  
Ana gasped a little in excitement at Vanessa's question, before controlling her response and nodding,  
pulling out a family sized Baby Ruth bar.  
"Of course! I like tea, what kinds do you have? I uh. I like rose teas."  
"Just a black coffee for me, please" Vanessa answered, already imagining plans for Vondila's birthday  
bash.  
Salem nodded and made a cup of rose tea and a cup of coffee for the magi and a chamomile for herself.  
She grabbed the pastries and went over to the table. "Have as many as you want." She gestured at the  
food. She took a sip of tea going over her words one last time.  
Ana unwrapped her candy bar and took a bit, mumbling a soft "Gracias" for the tea. Salem was acting...  
weird. Something was off.  
Placing a shortbread on her plate but nit digging in quite yet, Vanessa examined the older woman in  
front of her, she seemed...nervous. "What is this about, really"?  
Salem sighed. It was better to get over with then drag it out. "How much do you both know about being  
magi and witches?"  
"Uh. Dios mio, hm. We uh, we stop witches, which are reality bending monsters? ...Right?" Mariana  
glanced at Vanessa, concerned she'd missed something.  
Taking a moment to sip her coffee, Vanessa thought before answering, "You make a wish with Eb or  
Flow and in exchange you fight witches, creatures that feed of off humans, I know its dangerous work  
and that Vondila made you promise not to make a wish with the incubators".  
Salem nodded. "Yes that all correct. Witches and magi are both needed. One can not exist with out the  
other. They both help keep the universe going." She thought back to her and Vondila's conversation  
with the incubators.  
"...are witches, magi, and incubators the only magical... things? Like... is that it? I thought there'd be... I  
dunno, something making the witches. Like in Precure with the Zatenna."  
"One can't exist without the other"? Vanessa asked shocked "You mean Magi's exist because Witches"?  
"Well yes and no." Salem took a deep breath. "Grief is what makes witches along with loose familiars.  
And grief is when a soul becomes cloudy and corrupted. But only soul that were part of a contract can  
fall into grief. For a witch to exist there must have been a magi that was over come with grief." Her  
voice was even and flat.  
"Over... over come..." Mariana stared at her, mind racing. Only contracted souls can be overcome with  
grief, and only those could.... become witches... are... are grief seeds actually fully blackened soul  
gems?  
"I...wait...what"?! Vanessa asked, utterly confused. Just what was Salem saying??  
"Magi are future witches. They didn't clean their soul gem enough and once its completely dark it will  
create a grief seed. This will kill the magi's body and their soul becomes a witch." Salem restated.  
Mariana covered her mouth, dropping her candy and trying to keep herself from panicking farther.  
They were... if they...  
"No no no no..."  
This isn't what she'd signed up for.  
Vanessa felt numb. Witches were Magi's? She had been killing people all this time? She felt like she  
was about to be sick "How...hHow did you find out? When did you find out"?  
Salem looked over the pair shocked like she knew they would be. "I found out about the truth sometime  
again. An older magi told me, she has said never to tell anyone but I had to tell you." She looked down  
into her tea. Her mind repeating, its going to be okay this is for Von.  
Mariana shook her head, shrinking into herself.  
"Does... does Vondila know?"  
Vanessa stared down at her hands, processing the information.  
Salem knitted her brow together at the mention of her twin. "Yes but I told her never to tell other magi  
no matter what." She looked up at the pair, she looked like she had again several years in such a short  
time.  
Mariana ran a hand down her face, and pulled her feelings in. This wasn't the time for panicking.  
"Okay. I. I'm going to go. Deal. With that. Not here. If that's alright with you."  
She stood up, tea put down after only a couple sips, candy bar forgotten. She couldn't process this right  
now. She needed some alone time. Vondila probably hadn't wanted to tell them in case they took it  
badly.  
Vanessa continued to sit there looking down, a mixture of horror, fear and anger squirmed inside her  
stomach as she went over every witch that they had fought. She was one of them...  
"Ana be safe." Salem said to the magi. The fact she had just forgotten the candy worried Salem. Her  
eyes fell onto Vanessa whom had fallen quite. "Nessa?"  
Mariana nodded, walking out and heading home. Maybe she should... NOT tell Luis. Yeah, no.  
"I'm...I'm processing..." Vanessa grimaced. "Why tell us now"? She asked, half-curious half-numb to  
the process.  
"I was guilty of not telling you. You've both been so good friends to Von that I couldn't keep it a secret."  
She admitted. "Von was kept wanting to but I kept telling her not to. Maybe if the stupid incubators told  
the truth from the get go things would be different."  
"So you had her lie to us"? Vanessa's voice came off harsher than even she intended.  
Salem was a little shocked by Vanessa's reaction. "Yes I did. I convinced her it was for the best."  
"I--Why would you--We trusted you" Vanessa's thoughts were a flurry as she tried to sort out how to  
deal with this. She wanted to ask but deep down she knew there was no going back now.  
"I know you did."Salem took a sip of her tea. Salem was sickly happy at Vanessa's words she was mad  
at her, like she planned.  
Vanessa buried her head in her hands, trying to control her breathing.  
Salem continued to watch Vanessa after a moment she spoke up. "Now what are you going todo?"  
"What can I do"? Vanessa sobbed. Just what options did she have now? Her wish was to save and  
protect other magical girls and here she was culling the sickest ones? Ones she was destined to join  
eventually? what type of future was that?  
"Keep going." Salem bit her lip. "I know your wish was to to help protect magi and you can still do  
that." She didn't want to give false hope after all this but she hoped it would help. "You might be able to  
live through this and be able to grow up." It was the same false hope she clung to about her twin.  
"Grow up!? You just told me I'm on death row! How can I just grow up?!" Vanessa cried out, just  
looking for a fight to vent her emotions now  
Salem flinched at the out burst. "Well I have no idea what would happen if you became over a certain  
age where your less emotionally vulnerable, the incubators do seek out those that are emotionally  
damaged or desperate. And being a teen fits that."  
"So...so what? I'm just supposed to hold on until I'm older"? Vanessa's breath was still shaking with  
emotion but she was calming down, at least outwardly  
"Thats the hope." Salem looked away her eyes falling to the dark entrance of the memorial room.  
"Thats the one thing those two monsters can't take from us, is hope." She clutched her mug.  
"Hope" Vanessa muttered hollowly, she tucked her hair back behind her ear and realized she had been  
crying. So much for no grief, she thought to herself.  
Salem sighed and picked up her empty mug and the still full mug from Ana. She made a note  
to herself to get Von to text her later.


End file.
